BY FKITZ NOETLING, JM.A., PH.D. 95 



ed sitting cross-legged, with threfe buudleb of spears under 

 their legs^ a small fire burning between them. The right 

 hand figure holds a spear under his right arm, closely pressed 

 to the body by arm a.nd hand, while the left hand holds a 

 cutting implement. We know that this implement must 

 have been a tero-watta and it is very suggestive that it is 

 completely concealed by the fingers. This proves that the 

 tero-watta, which was used, was of such a small size that 

 it did not even show above the first finger. The view ex- 

 pressed by me in a previous paper that the tero-watta was 

 on the whole an implement of small size, is therefore fully 

 confirmed by this engraving. But what is more import- 

 ant still, the position of the bent-in thumb suggests that it 

 must rest on one face of the tero-watta, pressing it with 

 the opposite face against the curved first finger. The posi- 

 tion of the hand and fingers, as drawn in this picture, is 

 therefore completely in harmony with the view time and 

 again emphasised by me, that tne tero-watta and all other 

 Archaeolithic implements were grasped in such a way that 

 the thumb invariably '-ested on the flat face, which I there- 

 fore called PoUical face. 



The most remarkahle feature of this figure is, however, 

 quite a different one. The left hand holds the implement 

 used for making the spear, not the i"ight one ! If it could 

 be proved to a certainty that the position of this Aborigine 

 is drawn correctly, the conclusions that could be drawn 

 would be far-reaching. However, I rather feel inclined to 

 think that the artist has made a most unfortunate mistake ; 

 we may safely assume that he first made a pencil sketch on 

 paper, and then transferred that sketch exactly as he had 

 made it on the copper plate, forgetting that by doing so 

 the print must naturally become reversed. What he ought 

 to have done was to transfer his pencil sketch on the copper 

 plate, such as it aopearod in a locking-glass, but not as he 

 had designtd it (1). 



The second Aborigine sits like the former, cross-legged, 

 and full front, gripping a spear between his two fists, while 

 his teeth are holcftng it like a vice. The inscription says : 

 "Straightening" the spear. The only reference i could find 

 that the spears were straightened with the teeth is in Back- 

 house's book, page 172, and I confer that I was somewhat 

 doubtful as to this practice. 



(1) The scrawlv character of the legend gr«atly supports this theory. 

 In order to appear correctly on the print he had to draw it inversely 

 on the Dlate To judge from the almost childish scrawl, this has caused 

 Mm a good 'deal of trouble, and therefore the theory that he did not 

 take the pains to engrave the human figures inversely on the plate 

 is more than probable. 



